20.1.15

Knitting for beginners: the hood-hat recipe

My mom is amazing at knitting and I am so not! I
clearly don’t have the gene…. I had done a bit of crochet before but not much.
When I was pregnant with Lucie, I saw this hood-hat recipe on the Internet. It
said it was suitable for an 8 year-old knitting class… so I thought, perfect
for me!

It didn’t disappoint. It is extremely easy - you just
knit a rectangle, which you fold and then you sew one side. It’s very fast to
knit. I enjoyed picking up the yarn (colour and texture). And in the end, it
looks very cute!

A few notes:

* As it says in the instructions, I only needed one ball of yarn for a baby size.
For bigger sizes, I would recommend buying two balls, just in case

* I reduced the number of stitches to 60 for a three-six months old (you can
always knit the first row and check on your baby’s or toddler’s head if this is
the right length) and I knitted for 17 cm (rather than 23 cm as it says in the recipe)

* When you buy your yarn, if you are a beginner like me, show them what
you want to do, they will tell you which yarn is best and which needles will
suit

* Buy a yarn needle at the same time (which you will need to sew the
sides)

* Go on good old youtube for knitting tutorials like this one (how to cast
on), this one (to learn the garter stitch) or this one (how to cast off).

Now that the weather is getting colder, I feel like
knitting again. I found another easy pattern, which is the same concept as the hood-hat recipe but with an integrated
scarf. Very clever! I will post pictures when I am done.

You can download it here (look for the pattern called
“Modèle bonnet-écharpe IMPACT 6 Layette” – you will need to register on Phildar
first – it is free, takes 2 mins and you can find lots of other free patterns). Or you can use the instructions (which I copied) below:

* Cast on 75 stitches and knit even for 16 cm in garter

* At the next raw, knit 11 stitches, cast off the following 53 then knit
the last 11 for 24 cm

* At the next raw, cast off these 11 stitches

* Take again the 11 remaining stitches and knit for 24 cm

* At the next row, cast off the 11 stitches

Happy knitting!

P.S.: If helpful, in Montreal, I bought yarn at these
two places: Espace Tricot and Mouliné (I am sure there are many other stores; these
two happen to me in my neighbourhood).

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